Justin Hamilton Signs In Croatia
A few weeks after being selected 45th overall and acquired by the Heat on draft night, Justin Hamilton has decided to head overseas for the upcoming season. The former LSU big man has signed with Croatian club Cibona Zagreb, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Hamilton, who averaged 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in his junior year at LSU, entered the draft a year early, despite being ranked just the 65th-best prospect of the class by DraftExpress and 76th by ESPN.com's Chad Ford. The 22-year-old was part of the draft-night trade that allowed the Sixers to acquire the Heat's first-round pick and select Arnett Moultrie. In exchange, Miami received the 45th overall pick, used to draft Hamilton, and the Sixers' lottery-protected 2013 first-rounder.
The Heat will hold Hamilton's rights if and when he returns to the NBA, but it appears the team didn't have a ton of interest in signing the 6'11" center, despite a lack of quality bigs. Heat president Pat Riley said earlier this month that he didn't feel like the club needed to add another center, so unless the Heat have another target in mind, it appears they're sticking to that stance.
Latest On Greg Oden
Within the last few months, multiple reports have suggested Greg Oden is considering returning to the NBA for the 2012/13 season, and would like the opportunity to play for the Heat. However, talking recently to David Hughes of the Tribune-Star, Oden downplayed his chances of making his NBA return this season.
"I would love to play [in 2012/13], but I’m not going to rush anything," Oden said. "I need to take a year off. What I told [agent] Mike [Conley] was 'Look, I want to get back with a team. I want to play. If there’s a chance that later on in the [NBA] year, if I feel good or if I’m healthy enough to play, I would love to play this year.' That’s the conversation we had. I think some people kinda blew that up and took his words and kinda changed them around. I know I need to get healthy first before I do anything."
According to Oden, teams haven't exactly been burning up his phone line expressing interest in signing him, considering he's still recovering. The former first overall pick added that he doesn't have one specific team in mind as a destination: "I want to go to a place where I can get healthy and with somebody who can believe in me and my skills — somewhere it could be a good fit for the both of us."
One general manager that spoke to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Sulia link) considers teams like the Spurs, Pacers, and Magic as the eventual favorites to sign Oden, but cautions that that's just his specuation. Amico also hears from a GM (it's unclear whether it's the same one) that teams with cap space, like the Suns or Cavs, could take a flier on Oden toward the end of the season, though the GM thinks it would have to be a minimum-salary contract.
Odds & Ends: Iguodala, Smith, Gunning, Moser
To get an idea of the size and signficance of last week's blockbuster, consider the notion that Andre Iguodala heading to the Nuggets was probably the least publicized leg of the deal. Iguodala was not only an All-Star last season, but he was one of 12 members of a Team USA that has been fawned over by sports fans around the globe for the past month. According to Aaron Lopez of Nuggets.com, some of Iguodala's post-trade quotes were misconstrued and the veteran wing is, in fact, very excited to join what should be an ultra-athletic team in Denver. Let's round up some of the other links and happenings from around the Association on this Tuesday night:
- New Celtics sixth man Jason Terry spoke with Molly McGrath from Celtics.com and stated Boston's case for legitimate title contention in the 2012-13 season. Greg Payne from ESPN Boston transcribed the interview.
- Mark Medina from the L.A. Times spoke with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who sees a lot of similarities between his situation with the Lakers in 1975 and the one Dwight Howard is about to enter.
- Power forward Craig Smith, who saw less than 10 minutes per game with the Blazers last year, explained to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com why he passed up NBA offers to play in Israel in the upcoming season. Smith was tired of being an NBA "roster filler" and was willing to take less money for an opportunity to show what he can do with consistent playing time.
- The Magic have hired Brett Gunning as an assistant coach, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Gunning, who spent the last four seasons in various roles in the Rockets organization, will join first-time head coach Jacque Vaughn on the Orlando bench.
- According to UNLV head coach Dave Rice, Rebels swingman Mike Moser is preparing for what will likely be his last season in Las Vegas, reports Mike Youmans at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Moser is a rising junior, but Rice says he essentially considers him a senior. Moser averaged 14 points and more than 10 rebounds as a sophomore last season for the Rebels and briefly flirted with the 2012 draft. He projects as a late first-round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
- Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com writes that the Sixers, a franchise that has historically gotten burned in trades involving superstars, finally got the best player in a mega-deal in Andrew Bynum. Moore is only referring to what the team directly gave up and received, which eliminates Dwight Howard from consideration.
Steve Clifford To Follow Howard To Lakers
Former Magic assistant coach and defensive guru Steve Clifford will accept an invitation from Lakers head coach Mike Brown to join his coaching staff in Los Angeles, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Previously this offseason, Clifford was under consideration for the Magic and the Blazers head coach openings before both organizations went in different directions. Clifford was still in the mix for an assistant position in Portland before deciding to join the Lakers.
His decision comes in the wake of last week's blockbuster that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, effectively "reuniting" Clifford with the anchor of his defenses in Orlando. With Howard at center and Clifford on the bench, the Magic never finished worse than 11th in the NBA in team defense spanning five seasons. According to Haynes, Clifford considers the Van Gundy brothers his mentors and models himself after Tom Thibodeau. It should be interesting to see how Clifford's expertise supplements the already defensive-minded Mike Brown in the Lakers quest for their 17th title.
Poll: How Will Brandon Roy Fare In Minnesota?
The return of Brandon Roy in Minnesota, after what he termed a "pause" in his career, is something intriguing to keep an eye on in the 2012-13 NBA season. Roy officially signed with the Timberwolves on July 31 and addressed the unique nature of his situation at a press conference that same day. Earlier this month, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com took a detailed and comprehensive look at all the scenarios that could play out with Roy this season, including the impact of those possibilities on the franchises and fans in Portland and Minnesota.
In his prime, Roy was a 20-plus points-per-game scorer and All-Star caliber shooting guard. He averaged over 35 minutes-per-game over his first four seasons before his knee issues limited him to 12.2 points and 27.9 minutes per-game in the 2010-11 season. With over a year of rest, how do you think that Roy will fare this season in Minnesota, where he is the team's only real option at shooting guard?
How Will Brandon Roy Fare In Minnesota?
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Solid Contributor, averages around 10 PPG 48% (557)
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Effective Starter, averages around 15 PPG 38% (440)
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Returns to All-Star Form, averages upwards of 20 PPG 7% (84)
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Dissapointment, averages less than 5 PPG 6% (74)
Southwest Notes: Wright, Grizzlies, Jordan
When the "Dwightmare" was in full swing, perhaps no division in the NBA seemed a more likely landing spot for Dwight Howard than the Southwest. The Rockets made no secret about their relentless pursuit of the former Defensive Player of the Year, a position that general manager Daryl Morey has continued to embrace even with Howard now in purple and gold. The Mavericks were in the same boat, clearing out cap space last offseason in preparation of their pursuit of multiple free agent superstars. Both teams struck out and for now, the only team in the division that appears to have significantly improved is the Hornets. Lets take a look at some other links from the Southwest division:
- Last week we took a look at some of the issues holding up the Grizzlies' ownership transition from current owner Michael Heisley to tech industry billionaire Robert Pera. Matt Moore hits on many of the same points in a post today, pulling out several quotes from a piece in the Sporting News. It looks like there may be more than just stock price obstacles in this deal for Pera.
- Jeff Caplan from ESPN Dallas analyzes how Brandan Wright will fit in with the Mavericks this season in what is a contract year for the center. Caplan said that Wright's athleticism was an asset on offense for Dallas, but that wiry 7-footer was a liability on the defensive end. With a salary less than $1MM, the Mavericks will live with his ups and downs, but Wright is only 24 and it will be interesting to see how he performs approaching free agency and with veteran Chris Kaman eating up most of the minutes in the middle in Dallas.
- After being shipped from New York to Houston in the Marcus Camby deal, Jerome Jordan was promptly cut by the Rockets. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld caught up with Jordan, now an unrestricted free agent, in Los Angeles where the Tulsa product is working out in hopes of landing a back-up role.
Free Agent Spending By Division: Northwest
After calculating the numbers on 2012 free agent expenditures for teams in the Atlantic, Central and Southeast, we're moving over to the Western Conference. Using Hoops Rumors' Free Agent Tracker, our look at summer spending out West starts in the Northwest Division, where a pair of rivals spent a chunk of July battling over restricted free agent Nicolas Batum, who ultimately landed the largest contract in the division.
Once again, these figures only take into account free agent signings, so salary absorbed in trades or money used to sign draft picks isn't included in this list. Additionally, not all of this salary is necessarily guaranteed, which we'll try to note as we go along. Here are this summer's Northwest Division free agent costs, sorted by player salary:
Denver Nuggets: $63.875MM (JaVale McGee, Andre Miller, Anthony Randolph)
Miller's three-year, $14.625MM deal is only guaranteed for $12MM, so the Nuggets' overall bill may not ultimately be quite so high, but this is still a good chunk of money spent by an over-the-cap team that's not in a top market. Between their trades of Nene and Arron Afflalo though, the Nuggets have exhibited an ability to shed long-term contracts not long after they're signed, without taking long-term salary back in return. It's unlikely that happens with McGee's four-year, $44MM deal, but you never know.
Portland Trail Blazers: $54.572MM (Nicolas Batum, J.J. Hickson, Jared Jeffries, Ronnie Price)
After missing out on restricted free agent Roy Hibbert, the Blazers settled for bringing back their own RFA, Batum, at a cost of $45MM over four years. The team could end up only paying about $6.3MM for their other three signings — Hickson will receive $4MM, Price receives a minimum salary, to which the Blazers will contribute $854,389, and only Jeffries' first-year salary of $1,475,106 is guaranteed.
Minnesota Timberwolves: $45.666MM (Andrei Kirilenko, Brandon Roy, Alexey Shved, Greg Stiemsma)
After weeks of cap maneuvering and a failed offer sheet for Batum, the Timberwolves signed Kirilenko to a two-year contract worth $20MM, a deal that looked a lot worse before the Olympics than it does now. Still, of the four players Minnesota signed this summer, only one (Stiemsma) played in the NBA this season, making the club's offseason approach one of the more high-risk, high-reward strategies in the league.
Utah Jazz: $8.000MM (Jeremy Evans, Randy Foye)
It was a modest summer on the free agent market for the Jazz, whose only outside signing so far is Foye, for $2.5MM of the team's mid-level. But Utah made up for its restraint in free agency by taking on plenty of salary via trades, acquiring Mo Williams (one year, $8.5MM) and Marvin Williams (two years, $15.79MM).
Oklahoma City Thunder: $7.598MM (Daniel Orton, Hasheem Thabeet, Hollis Thompson)
While other Western Conference rivals like the Lakers practically overhauled their entire rosters, the Thunder have had a remarkably quiet summer, and will rely on their young core to continue to improve. Oklahoma City's 2012 free agent bill figures to amount to significantly less than the $7.598MM listed above — of the three multiyear contracts they've inked, only Thabeet's is fully guaranteed for 2012/13.
Odds & Ends: Magic, Warriors, Stotts, Harris
On this date four years ago, the Suns signed 25-year-old forward Louis Amundson as a free agent. Amundson had played only 153 total minutes in 27 games over two NBA seasons at that point, but took advantage of the minutes he received for the next two years in Phoenix, evolving into an adequate role player. Today, at age 29, Amundson is a free agent once again, and was said last week to be in talks with the Bobcats and Knicks, among other teams. While Amundson continues to weigh his options in free agency, let's check in on a few other notes from around the league….
- Magic CEO Alex Martins wrote a letter to Magic season ticket holders, as Iliana Limón Romero of the Orlando Sentinel documents. Martins says the team did all it could to keep Dwight Howard and encourages fans to look forward as the team builds for the future. "A primary goal for our basketball team is to achieve long-term sustainability while maintaining a long-term vision," the letter said. "We feel this deal puts us in a position to begin building in that direction. In addition to the six players joining our team, we will be in a position to maximize our salary cap flexibility in the near future, as well as utilize the multiple draft picks we have acquired going forward."
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides some reasons why the Lakers' acquisition of Howard isn't entirely bad news for the Warriors.
- As Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com writes, Warriors GM Bob Myers cleared up some recent remarks about coach Mark Jackson, clarifying that he never meant to suggest Jackson's job could be on the line if Golden State doesn't make the playoffs this season.
- New Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts spoke to SI.com's Zach Lowe about a number of topics, including some ofhis thoughts on the Blazers going forward.
- The Bulls officially announced today in a press release that they've named Brian Hagen as the team's assistant general manager. Hagen had spent the previous nine seasons in the Hornets' front office.
- Unrestricted free agent Terrel Harris is drawing some interest from overseas, according to a Sportando report. Harris played in 22 games for the Heat in 2011/12.
Baron Davis Hopes To Return In 2012/13
When Baron Davis went down with a gruesome knee injury in the first round of this year's playoffs against the Heat, it was believed that he'd likely miss the entire 2012/13 season. However, Davis has been rehabbing his knee, and a source close to the veteran guard tells Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld that the 33-year-old intends to return during the 2012/13 season.
There's no chance that Davis will be ready to play by the fall, but it's not entirely out of the question that he could be healthy enough to join a team later in the year. A torn MCL and ACL typically means a recovery time of at least one year, but if Davis is able to accelerate that timetable by a month or two, he could be a candidate for a team in need of backcourt help down the stretch. As he tells HoopsWorld, he's working hard to make that a realistic scenario.
"I’m feeling good, getting there," Davis said this weekend at a Rising Stars of America fundraiser. "A lot of rehab. A lot of rehab. My summer is just consisting of rehabbing, focusing in on this foundation and these kids and doing as much good as I possibly can with my time off."
If Davis doesn't make it back in time for the end of the 2012/13 season, he'll be an unrestricted free agent again next summer.
Daryl Morey Talks Dwight Howard, Roster Moves
For much of the offseason, it seemed that the Rockets were in the driver's seat to land Dwight Howard, armed with a handful of recent first-round picks, a few future first-rounders, and the cap space to absorb plenty of bad contracts from the Magic. But even after the Nets fell out of the running for Howard, it was the Lakers, not the Rockets that landed the All-Star center. Rockets GM Daryl Morey recently appeared on KBME in Houston and spoke to Matt Jackson about the Howard deal and the Rockets' own roster as the 2012/13 season approaches. Here are a few highlights, courtesy of Sports Radio Interviews:
On whether he felt the Rockets were close to acquiring Howard:
"I do, yeah. I do feel like it was close but they did their diligence and they were searching for something they thought they liked even more and they liked this trade better than anything we could offer. I promise you [Magic GM] Rob [Hennigan] knows what he’s doing and he thought this was best for Orlando and I think people will see over time that he’s a very good executive."
On Hennigan's suggestion that Houston's offer sheets for Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik made a Howard deal trickier:
"I haven’t seen Rob’s comments. I think those deals were done for a while now, so that would surprise me, but really the only opinion that matters is Rob’s. If he felt like that made it difficult, then it was difficult, right? At the end of the day, he has the player that he was trading that everyone wanted and there are a whole host of things that either made it positive or more difficult for them and how they value things."
On whether there are more moves coming before the offseason is over*:
“I think there’s a couple of free agents that we’re talking to and I don’t know if anything will work out but we’re very comfortable with what we have and rolling into training camp with that. We think it will be a team that can fight for a playoff spot but we’re always aggressive to try to do more and I think people know that. If something comes along we will do it, but really the reason why we’re comfortable with where we are at is if you look from one to 15, up and down the roster, it’s either a player who has got upside, who gives us flexibility to have cap room or we have the ability to, with the draft picks we picked up from Toronto and Dallas and those teams, the ability to trade for something. But we’re going to be patient and it takes two to tango. It’s gotta be where what we have is a fit with other teams."
* Morey's comments were made before news of the team's agreement with Carlos Delfino broke.